SWINDON DRUGS HOTLINE: WILTSHIRE police Chief Constable, Dame Elizabeth Neville, has praised the Evening Advertiser's Swindon Drugs Hotline, saying it is playing a vital role in the crackdown on drugs.

She singled out the Adver for special praise saying the initiative was the catalyst in letting the community shop the dealers that blighted their neighbourhoods with dealing.

Since its launch earlier this year more than 200 calls have been made to the confidential helpline, which in turn has led to scores of arrests and the seizure of more than £130,000 of illegal substances.

The hotline was launched on June 9 after the Advertiser and Swindon police joined forces to set up an easy way for members of the public to report acts of drug pushing in their area.

Information left on the helpline has proved a valuable tool in the fight against a trade, of which dealing in Class A drugs is worth £18 million a year in Swindon alone. There are currently around 3,000 heroin and crack cocaine addicts in the town and the number is rising fast.

Thanks to information left on the line and just a month after its launch drug squad officers were able to mount a series of raids on 19 houses across the town and made 16 arrests.

It also led to a crackdown on pushers who were openly using a busy subway off Marlowe Avenue in Walcot to ply their trade.

Last year Swindon charity Druglink dealt with 5,015 clients, but by the end of this year it is estimated that 6,210 addicts will have sought help.

DS Gerry Watkins, who heads the Swindon police intelligence unit, said: "Since the launch of the Hotline we have received hundreds of calls from the public giving us very useful information.

"We would encourage anyone with information on dealers and users in Swindon to make a call to us in the strictest of confidence.

"The police rely on information from the community no matter how small. Even if the information doesn't result in an arrest it can often help officers build a bigger picture.

"And we would like to reassure the people of Swindon that rigorous and sustained attacks on those who spread the evil of drugs will continue in 2004."

The police need names, addresses, car registration number plates, ages and identities of anyone suspected of dealing drugs. Anyone with information is urged to call the hotline on 01793 528800.

gsheldrick@newswilts.co.uk